Shattering profit records has become the new normal for major Spanish banks. After a 2025 marked by an increase in commercial activity in an environment of falling interest rates, the new geopolitical and economic context has given the sector a new boost. With skyrocketing inflation and a European Central Bank (ECB) forced to implement a restrictive monetary policy to avoid a loss of control over prices, the new wave of interest rate hikes has catapulted the results of the main entities, which are forecasting a historic year.

The implementation of new artificial intelligence tools in the Spanish banking sector is not impacting the staff of the large state entities, for now. With the exception of Banco Santander —which has cut almost 8,400 jobs globally over the last twelve months— the other five Ibex entities have added, over the last year, up to one hundred employees. According to the semi-annual income statements presented in recent weeks to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the group formed by CaixaBank, Banc Sabadell, BBVA, Bankinter, and Unicaja had 99,539 employees at the end of June, slightly above the 99,439 registered at the same time last year.

The arrival of spring not only brings the time change and milder temperatures. For investors in the Spanish stock market, it is the starting gun for the most lucrative period of the year. In 2025, the Ibex-35 reaffirmed itself as the one with the most generous remuneration in the Old Continent. According to the latest market data, the Spanish selective index leads dividend yield in Europe, thus breaking its own record of payments in a year marked by the strength of business results.